Vet Nets Over $500K in Retroactive Payments

Robert, an 80-year-old Vietnam Army veteran living in Virginia, was granted recognition of his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis by the VA in 2008. However, he had filed his initial claim in 1981 — making Robert believe that the government owed him more than two decades of compensation. 

VVA began representing Robert in January 2016, when he was receiving a 100% rating dating back to April 2008. Director Alec Ghezzi researched the law, finding a rule that allows a veteran to receive back payments from an original claim if it is granted based on military records that existed but VA did not obtain when the first decision was made. 

Ghezzi submitted a brief explaining that this is what happened and that the correct effective date for Robert’s PTSD was March 1981. He also argued that the veteran was unemployable from this time on due to PTSD, indicating a 100% rating back to the original claim. 

Robert was granted the earlier effective date for his PTSD disability in May 2020 and was paid $254,591.20 in retroactive benefits. in June 2022, Robert was also granted limited employability status from 1981 on, and he received an additional $277,181.90, for a total of $531,773.10.